Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Last night I saw Gary Numan perform at the Black Cat in Washington DC on the "The Pleasure Principle 2010 Tour." I've been a fan since I'd first heard "Are Friends Electric?" on pop radio as a teenager living in Europe - and so began my fascination with the synthesizer and electronic music.

The show was terrific - his band opened with an old b-side, `Random', and the first set was the entirety of "The Pleasure Principle" album - true to form with wall to wall synths (mostly Virus and Nord Lead, near as I could make out), bass and drums. To be honest, this was never my favorite Numan album - despite the popularity of `Cars.' When it was first released, "all electronic" albums were still something of a novelty (Kraftwerk, Jean-Michel Jarre, John Foxx, who esle did I miss?) I'd given the CD a couple of listens recently while commuting to get reacquainted with the material. The live performance was true to form, with an energy and commitment to the material I'm certain fans of my - ahem, cough-cough - `maturity' appreciated. It didn't feel like an "all things eighties" nostalgia show and I don't believe that's what the crowd expected from him either.

The second set was comprised of his more recent, industrial/goth material like "Pure", "Dark Heaven", "Halo", and "Haunted" (but not "Crazier" - bummer... ) and a few old hits reinterpreted for his modern sound - such as "Down in the Park" - and a some surprises like "I Die:You Die." Great stuff.

It was surreal seeing Numan perform live after so many years anticipating an opportunity to so - there's not been many given his level of popularity and it's not like he's at the top of my playlist at this late date. Still, I'm so happy to have the experience and be reminded of things past without being stuck there!

Forgive the OT post, just I thought I'd share since we're all fans of the synthesizer.

Regards,

Jon